To my beautiful brothers and sisters who struggle …
… recognize that you are a sick person getting well, not a bad person getting good. Our actions may have been poor and our judgement lacking during our drinking days, but no one has the right to make us feel less than. You are finding the path to wellness and recovery – and the joy a life of sobriety brings is beyond measure.
For a person struggling with alcohol or drug addiction, things can get to the point where life just isn’t working anymore; after all, all the good things and people are either going or gone, and mind-altering substances, with all the suffering and consequences they cause, have taken centre stage. To make matters worse, it can … Continued
On January 27, Bell Let’s Talk Day, Renascent live-streamed a fireside conversation about the #2 mental health issue facing Canadians — addiction. Moderated by CEO Dr. Patrick Smith, this conversation engaged our counsellors and people with lived experience of addiction and recovery — from personal, family and workplace perspectives. Over 600 people viewed the livestream with more than 2,600 engaging within 19 hours. Watch the stream here or on our Facebook page and add your comments!
Negative or critical voices can interfere with you feeling good about yourself – or feeling good at all. Sometimes those critical voices become so loud that they’re all you can hear – and you miss out on your beauty, your growth, and all the wonderful things you’re doing. But there is a way to lessen the intensity of those critical voices, and to find some relief.
Will we ever break the stigma within the ranks? Perhaps not, given the nature of the profession. Policing is a profession for hardened men and women. On the surface there may be “help available,” but once one has admitted “perceived weakness” through mental health issues, things will never be the same.
Many people report experiencing a traumatic event at some point in their lives. In fact, traumatic events occur among 60 per cent of men and 50 per cent of women during their lifetime. Not everyone who experiences a traumatic event, however, develops PTSD. While post-traumatic symptoms are very common in the immediate aftermath of a traumatic event, for most survivors these symptoms lessen with time. For a significant minority, however, these symptoms do not diminish on their own.
